Pathophysiology
The aortic valve normally consists of three leaflets (trileaflets). When the left ventricle (LV) contracts, it forces blood through the valve to the aorta and then to the rest of the body. When the LV expands again, the aortic valve prevents the blood from returning to the ventricle. When the opening of the aortic valve becomes narrowed or constricted (stenotic), the blood can't be pumped adequately and the pressure in the left ventricle increases.Initially, the LV compensates by thickening its walls (myocardial hypertrophy) in order to maintain adequate pumping pressure. The type of hypertrophy most commonly seen in AS is concentric hypertrophy, in which the walls of the LV are (approximately) equally thickened. In the later stages, the left ventricle dilates, the wall thins, and the systolic function deteriorates. Morris and Innasimuthu et al. showed that different coronary anatomy is associated with different valve diseases. There is more research going on to see if different coronary anatomy might lead to turbulent flow at the level of valves leading to inflammation and degeneration.
Read more about this topic: Aortic Valve Stenosis